diff --git a/backend/app/services/google_oauth.py b/backend/app/services/google_oauth.py
index ab44336..d22cd05 100644
--- a/backend/app/services/google_oauth.py
+++ b/backend/app/services/google_oauth.py
@@ -1,6 +1,14 @@
 import logging
+import os
 from datetime import datetime, timezone
 
+# Google frequently echoes back a scope string that's a superset/reordering
+# of what we requested (e.g. we ask for "youtube", Google's token response
+# also lists "youtube.readonly" since it's implied). oauthlib does an exact
+# string comparison by default and raises on any mismatch -- this disables
+# that overly strict check. Must be set before requests_oauthlib reads it.
+os.environ.setdefault("OAUTHLIB_RELAX_TOKEN_SCOPE", "1")
+
 import httpx
 from google.auth.transport.requests import Request as GoogleAuthRequest
 from google.oauth2.credentials import Credentials